Preparation

In a blender purée the parsley with the oil. In a large steamer set over boiling water steam the cauliflower, covered, for 5 minutes, or until it is just tender. While the cauliflower is steaming, in a kettle of boiling salted water boil the pasta until it is al dente and drain it well. In a large bowl toss the pasta with the parsley sauce, the cauliflower, the olives, and salt and pepper to taste.

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Reviews

Quick, healthy, and easy. Four
forks if you make some of the
changes suggested by other
reviewers: a bit of garlic, anchovy,
and/or red pepper flakes sauteed in
the olive oil. I made this with
just 1/2 lb of whole wheat pasta and
it was a good proportion of pasta to
veggies. I liked this with stuffed
green olives as in the original
recipe - nice bright flavor and the
red pimento added some color.

Whole family loved this. Roasted the cauliflower instead of steaming - giving it more depth of flavor. Definitely used less oil and tossed in red pepper flakes, as suggested by many reviewers. Would be good with crushed, toasted walnuts also.

I added garlic and 2
anchovies, which I
mashed and sauteed
together before
adding it to the
parsley puree. I
also added hot
pepper flakes. The
idea for these three
added ingredients
came from a similar
recipe in a Marcella
Hazen cookbook. I
reduced the olive
oil by half and used
green noodles. It
was beautiful and
delicious. The
parsley puree was
excellent!

I agree with some
of the posts, the
recipe needs a
little tweeking--
but is very good.
I too added crushed
red peppers, garlic
and an anchovy--
Italians throw
anchovies in sauces
all the time--adds
flavor and a bit of
saltiness, which is
why people thought
the need to add
kalamata olives
but green ones
worked very well.
This recipe is a
keeper. Definitely
cut back on the
oil.

I agree with the addition of calamata olives. Just want to add that frozen cauliflower works just fine. I chose the one day out of the year to make this when there was no fresh cauliflower to be found, so had to use frozen and it was great.

Basically, what you're making is a parsley pesto without the garlic and parmesan cheese. To add some zing to this recipe just add the garlic and parmesan, as well as pine nuts or walnuts when mixing up the parsley and oil, or just use the pesto of your choice instead. I agree with another reviewer. I think kalmata olives would be a better choice for olives, and I would definitely sprinkle on parmesan cheese when serving. This is one of those recipes where you can easily adapt and improvize to make it really work.

While this is not the most exciting pasta I've ever had, it certaianly is fast, easy and inexpensive. It does need a little spicing up, red pepper flakes , a little garlic and lots of good cheese. I also think if I do it again I'd use Kalamata olives as opposed to stuffed green olives.

I've made it several times, to rave reviews from family and guests alike. I am planning on making this again this weekend, and was double-checking my memory on quantities when I saw the negative reviews--what a surprise! It takes very little imagination or effort to turn this recipe into a real winner. Add a healthy dose of garlic (4-6 cloves) and crushed red chili peppers, and pass a good fresh parmesan or pecorino at the table. This is a wonderful summertime dish that can be made ahead and served at room temperature--easy and healthy.

cook from bayside - thats just not fair! Just throw in all the parsley stalks and all, I love this recipe, i think it's a good example of a few ingredients used well to make something really good. But halve the oil.

This was a terrible recipe. No wonder no one has reviewed it yet. The olives just did not seem to go with the rest of the ingredients. It was like a pesto sauce but it was missing the elements that make a pesto sauce flavorful, like garlic and nuts. I wasted my time taking parsley leaves off of their stems and cutting olives, only to end up throwing the whole mess down the food grinder. I sincerely believe that the editors did not test this one before they printed it in their magazine. Don't try it.